Elizabeth Haas Edersheim - The Definitive Drucker: Challenges For Tomorrows Executives — Final Advice From the Father of Modern Management

Praise for
THE DEFINITIVE DRUCKER

As close as you can get to the wisdom of Drucker and how his
stunning intelligence can be applied to every modern organization.

Warren Bennis
Distinguished Professor of Management, USC,
author of On Becoming a Leader, and Peters friend

An excellent book that captures both the human side of Peter
Druckerhow he thinkshow he lives and, of course, Edersheims
thoughts as well. It has great value in capturing Peters thoughts in the
last two years of his life. Peter obviously picked the right person.

Bob Buford
Chairman
Leadership Network and Founding Chairman of
The Drucker Foundation

Puts the reader in Druckers Claremont study for a tutorial
on leadership. Her conversations with the Father of Management
are created into a very insightful seminar, with examples of leaders
who followedand ignoredDruckers wisdom.

Richard E. Cavanagh
President and CEO
The Conference Board, Inc.

Elizabeth Edersheim has captured the essential Drucker in a way that
demonstrates the current pertinence of his timeless wisdom. A must
read for those who lead or aspire to lead organizations of any sort.

William H. Donaldson
27th Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission
Co-founder Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.

A new and timely perspective on Peter Druckers philosophy,
his legacy, and its powerful relevance to all leaders of the future.

Frances Hesselbein
Chairman
Leader to Leader Institute

Edersheim has synthesized Peter Druckers lifetime of wisdom
into a lively and readable narrative that illuminates Peters
enduring clarity, optimism and humanityand leaves us with
the inescapable conclusion that
the father of modern management is more relevant and needed today than ever before.

Ira A. Jackson
Dean
The Drucker School of Management
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, California

The Definitive Drucker brought back fond memories of
long discussions with Peter Drucker and my partners in the founding of
a new knowledge-based Wall Street security firm in the
early 1960s. Peters Delphi-like pronouncements were not always easy
to decipher. His insights were brilliant, an early glimpse as to how
Drucker became the single most influential observer of business in
the 20th century. Edersheim refreshes and updates Druckers wisdom
through the lens of her own contemporary experience as a consultant,
a combination that is both exciting and provocative.

Richard Jenrette
Co-founder
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.

One of the things that Drucker did very, very well was forcing
you to think, think away from traditional lines of thought.
This book forces the reader to think with Druckers ideas today.

Dan Lufkin
Co-founder
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.

A very accessible book on the thoughts and practices of the
greatest of all management gurus. It demonstrates, with its
numerous contemporary illustrations from around the world,
how Druckers wisdom transcends geography as well as time.

Nikhil Prasad Ojha,
Director
The Monitor Group, Mumbai Office

If you want the essence of Peter Druckers thinking,
this book provides it in a superb way.

Hermann Simon
Chairman
Simon, Kucher & Partners

A most impressive book full of practical advice.
We are most grateful to Edersheim.

Atsuo Ueda
author of Introduction to Peter F. Drucker (in Japanese),
representative of Drucker Workshop (Japan),
and Emeritus Professor of Institute of Technologists

Copyright 2007 by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-163111-2
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This book is dedicated to
Doris Drucker
and
Steven Gallen Edersheim

I did not realize it at the time, but I grew up with Peter Drucker. My father spent 25 years in management at GE, and another decade at Chase Manhattan. He met Peter at GEs Crotonville facility in the 1950s and always had Druckers books on his bookshelf. Though I had no interest in business as a high school or undergraduate student, I flipped through my fathers booksDrucker classics such as